That mean old devil (who's a liar by the way) is on a war path this week. I guess all of this talk about Easter and the reminders of what happened that weekend make him even angrier. Thus the war path and trying to see who can be devoured in the process. The enemy knows what buttons to push (after all most of the time we tell him exactly what upsets us, makes us feel a certain way etc.) Hello...words are powerful period. At some point that truth will be ingrained into my every hour, every minute....not just when I feel like it or after the fact. How much stronger we would be if we would just focus on God's truth and His truth alone.
We tie how we feel about ourselves to what we do(and most of the time how well we do it). The more I thought about that truth that I read this afternoon on FB the more it permeated the core of my heart. I'm so guilty of that. I let how the day goes(or even how a moment of the day transpires) affect how I see my performance of the day. Why oh why can't we wrap our hearts around how He sees us and just leave it at that? If we could just remember in those moments when the enemy wants to sow doubt and despair that the blood has that ground covered. The cross and the empty tomb mean that I can view my day through His lens. I can view my weaknesses as covered in blood. I can view my faults as forgiven. I can view my outside as royal.
Quit analyzing every detail of the day and ask yourself one question....Did you love? Did you let the flame that He lit burn and shine through? So many times we think we need to perform well for God to approve, when in reality we just need to be who He called us to be. God's not looking to mark off a check list, He's looking at your heart. He knows what motivates you, what drives you, what consumes your thoughts at night. He knows why He put you on the journey you are on right now. There is no confusion or chaos when He's involved, only peace and fruit. Let that sink in......God has a plan of peace and a plan of good, not of confusion, worry, or chaos.
Oh me...as the title of this blog is so wonderfully worded. Oh me I started off the week strong and today started to flounder a bit. I let the analyzing, worry, and reasoning start to ease their way in to a field that was ripe for planting. God did a work last week...just me and Him. Things I had asked Him to answer during the summer, He started answering last week. Requests that I had been praying for awhile started taking shape last week...Last week was a revelation week of band-aids coming off and God doing what only He could do. The more God strengthens us for the next leg of the journey, the more we press forward into battle. God didn't call us to sit on the sidelines and watch as a spectator. He called us to engage and press forward to the prize of the High calling.
I want to finish well and finish strong. Strong not by my definition, but strong by His definition. To do that I've got to get the oh me's out of the way. I've got to keep the heart protected with the truth and the mind focused on what He says about me(which is what I need to speak about me). Strength is not developed just sitting around. You can't gain muscle by laying on the couch all day, every day. It takes movement(which sometimes hurts...) I'm not perfect, trust me. I fall down multiple times a day and still have a whole book of lessons I need to master. I'm a princess who loves her some Grace and is humbled that He gives it consistently and so freely. (Pretty sure with a chuckle and smile sometimes because I knew better...). I'm on this journey which is spinning on my Potter's wheel. As I take the trip around He is molding me and shaping me to be more like Him. It's painful at times and to be honest sometimes it takes more than one spin around to get it right, but I'm learning. I wish some of this had took earlier in life, but I'm thankful for the truth that is becoming rooted now. Trust is knowing who has it all planned out....(and knowing it's not YOU!).
Until next time....
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Move Forward
Oh how I love Spring Break...and not just because of not having to set an alarm in the mornings. I love the refocus time and the time to just simply listen. I am horrible about being so busy sometimes that I forget to simply stop and listen and let Him do the talking. Oh how many times do we let our conversations with God turn into one sided discussions. We do all the talking, but when it comes time to really listen....we say a quick Amen and move on with our day. How do we ever expect to know what the right steps are for our lives if we never let Him tell us? Too often we try to guess or feel our way through some things and then we end up in a mess of stress. I'm not sure where the wrong turn went or where the mis-step happened, but for the last few months I've felt like someone pushed the pause button. The chains He had broken before were still off, but it was as if I was frozen in time. Stay with me for a minute....Thankfully God knows how visual I am. He knew I needed a picture in order to "get it". Well it took two days for the picture to sink in, but it made it to my Spirit... (That's a blog for another day...so many times we ask God for a word or a picture in this case, but we do not take time to meditate and let that word sink in to the very core of who we are...our Spirit).
So the chains have come off, they are broken laying around your feet, but what's next? You've asked God to move and trusted Him to do His part....but have you done yours? Oh how many times do we celebrate when He's broken the chains, taken us to a new level, or spoken that word that we needed to hear....yet we forget to keep moving? We stay put in that spot of comfort, content that the chains are broken, but not really trusting to step forward and continue on this journey. Oh sweet reader, trust yourself...not because of anything you can do, but because of all that He has already done! He has more in store for your life, if you'll just do your part and keep walking. Don't let the enemy paralyze you in the spot of comfort(also known as the "well that's just how I am", as the" this is how I've always done it", or the well "it's in my genetics"). True contentment and peace will not be found where it is comfortable.
Struggling to move forward? Good....it means you realize this journey is not about what you can do, but what He can do through you. Quit listening to the lies of the enemy. As a child of the Most High, you can do all things through Him! In your own strength, you will find stress. In His strength, you will find rest.
The power to do much is within you....When you received His gift of salvation and became One with Him, the power to do and be who He made you to be was deposited within you. Exercise that power...it's not easy because it goes against the flesh, but it is so worth it.
So the chains have come off, they are broken laying around your feet, but what's next? You've asked God to move and trusted Him to do His part....but have you done yours? Oh how many times do we celebrate when He's broken the chains, taken us to a new level, or spoken that word that we needed to hear....yet we forget to keep moving? We stay put in that spot of comfort, content that the chains are broken, but not really trusting to step forward and continue on this journey. Oh sweet reader, trust yourself...not because of anything you can do, but because of all that He has already done! He has more in store for your life, if you'll just do your part and keep walking. Don't let the enemy paralyze you in the spot of comfort(also known as the "well that's just how I am", as the" this is how I've always done it", or the well "it's in my genetics"). True contentment and peace will not be found where it is comfortable.
Struggling to move forward? Good....it means you realize this journey is not about what you can do, but what He can do through you. Quit listening to the lies of the enemy. As a child of the Most High, you can do all things through Him! In your own strength, you will find stress. In His strength, you will find rest.
The power to do much is within you....When you received His gift of salvation and became One with Him, the power to do and be who He made you to be was deposited within you. Exercise that power...it's not easy because it goes against the flesh, but it is so worth it.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Thoughts from my heart.....
Multiple starts to various blogs.....
We think we have reached the top of that mountain we asked Him to move, but really He just gave us a chance to catch our breath before starting to climb again. We want Him to move the mountain, but He needs for us to realize just how strong we are. Oh how this truth hit me slap in the face when I got still and looked back on the last week. Yes He has the power to move the mountain we asked Him to, but is that what we really need? So many times we get what we want mixed up with what we need because what we need isn't comfortable. He knows what we need, trusting Him to follow through with that is our part in the process. Sometimes the path is clear and sometimes it's a whisper.... Sometimes the need is clearly defined from the want, but sometimes we have to take a step back and get His perspective on that mountain we say we give up climbing. We are never going to be comfortable climbing the mountain until we can see ourselves through His eyes and realize how He is strengthening us. Our flesh wants to run from anything that isn't comfortable, but instead of speaking to our storm...our soul wants to speak to us. That song lyric that came on at just the right moment, the FB status that was so what you needed to hear, or that verse that God brought back to mind at just the right time...all of these are truths to our soul. Whispers from Him speaking peace to the storm inside of us. He knows if He can calm us, we can look at the storm on the outside through His eyes. God's not asking us to be anyone other than who He has called us to be(so quit comparing yourselves to others...). (That's a blog in itself for another day...)
Sometimes my students think I expect to much out of them, but really I can see what they can do. Oh how He spoke that to my soul this morning. We can't always see what we can do, but He can. We see our limitations, He sees our potential. We see our wants, He sees our needs. Just as a teacher in the classroom pushes their students to be the best they can be(and that's different for every one), our Heavenly Teacher does the same thing. He sees what He made us to be...look in His mirror the next time you start to feel stressed and ask Him for His view. So many times our stressed moments, our frustrations, and our that's it I'm done moments come because we get our eyes off of being the One He made us to be and try to be who the world says we should. God doesn't have a ruler or a measuring tape for after all He'd need one for every person since we are all different. He convicts and leads you to change, the world condemns and leads you to feelings of depression, stress, and more.
So the mountain is still there, keep climbing. God's there with you and knows you can reach the top(otherwise He would have moved it.) God will move you when He's ready, until then stay planted....and BLOOM!
More later on most of this...with scriptures ;-) He's been speaking and pouring in this weekend...
~Melissa
We think we have reached the top of that mountain we asked Him to move, but really He just gave us a chance to catch our breath before starting to climb again. We want Him to move the mountain, but He needs for us to realize just how strong we are. Oh how this truth hit me slap in the face when I got still and looked back on the last week. Yes He has the power to move the mountain we asked Him to, but is that what we really need? So many times we get what we want mixed up with what we need because what we need isn't comfortable. He knows what we need, trusting Him to follow through with that is our part in the process. Sometimes the path is clear and sometimes it's a whisper.... Sometimes the need is clearly defined from the want, but sometimes we have to take a step back and get His perspective on that mountain we say we give up climbing. We are never going to be comfortable climbing the mountain until we can see ourselves through His eyes and realize how He is strengthening us. Our flesh wants to run from anything that isn't comfortable, but instead of speaking to our storm...our soul wants to speak to us. That song lyric that came on at just the right moment, the FB status that was so what you needed to hear, or that verse that God brought back to mind at just the right time...all of these are truths to our soul. Whispers from Him speaking peace to the storm inside of us. He knows if He can calm us, we can look at the storm on the outside through His eyes. God's not asking us to be anyone other than who He has called us to be(so quit comparing yourselves to others...). (That's a blog in itself for another day...)
Sometimes my students think I expect to much out of them, but really I can see what they can do. Oh how He spoke that to my soul this morning. We can't always see what we can do, but He can. We see our limitations, He sees our potential. We see our wants, He sees our needs. Just as a teacher in the classroom pushes their students to be the best they can be(and that's different for every one), our Heavenly Teacher does the same thing. He sees what He made us to be...look in His mirror the next time you start to feel stressed and ask Him for His view. So many times our stressed moments, our frustrations, and our that's it I'm done moments come because we get our eyes off of being the One He made us to be and try to be who the world says we should. God doesn't have a ruler or a measuring tape for after all He'd need one for every person since we are all different. He convicts and leads you to change, the world condemns and leads you to feelings of depression, stress, and more.
So the mountain is still there, keep climbing. God's there with you and knows you can reach the top(otherwise He would have moved it.) God will move you when He's ready, until then stay planted....and BLOOM!
More later on most of this...with scriptures ;-) He's been speaking and pouring in this weekend...
~Melissa
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Me for a minute....
Overall today was a good day. Why is that we let the negative moments of the day cloud all of the positive moments? So many times we can be rocking and rolling and having a good day, when a long comes a person with a word or two that ruins the whole moment. Are we letting those words make us stronger or defeating? If we are honest with ourselves, after a few tears, a few I just don't get it's, those negative moments still in our thoughts. Oh how true the saying is that it takes so many positive thoughts to push out one negative one. Negative words, criticism, and just plain meanness is going to come. Your choice is what you do with it? Process it if you must, but remember His truths. The diamond is only made after pressing, flames, and chipping away. So many times we only see how it hurts, but God sees the bigger picture of how He is using that very moment to make us more like Him. Lesson learned: Let Him do what He needs to the first time. Otherwise you will find yourselves on repeat, until all that He wants chipped away has been. (He's only answering our prayer to make us more like Him, but we forget it in the moment when we feel like we have been questioned). Oh how different our do is from our who. Who we are is not what we do. Don't let someone's criticism of what you do impact your who. (Easier said than done, but it's a process).
Another thought, observation: Don't be surprised when the enemy attacks when you are tired, overwhelmed with a to-do list longer than the day, and trying to stay focused (aka not stress eating). The enemy knows when we are at our weakest. If the attacks came when we were at our strongest, we would move on and not feel them as much. He delights in watching it affect us, but oh how forgets the truth of God's word. God can take any attack and turn it for our good if we let Him. So words in His hands, tomorrow is a new day.......
Reality moment....It's a major paperwork season at work. Hence my to-do list is longer than my day, it has been for over a month. My God knows my heart. He knows I am me pure and simple. That yucky old people pleasing chain tries to re-attach itself, but my heart is simply to do what He has called me to do. Yes it still hurts when I feel like I am make someone mad, it's a process. Too many times we think we can make spiritual changes as easy as we think we can physical changes. We didn't put the physical weight on overnight and we aren't going to take it off the same way. The potter knows just how fast to spin the wheel. You may feel like you are going to fly off, but the Ultimate Potter has you right in His hands and all He sees is a masterpiece in the making!
Thankful tonight for those that pour back in, those that remind me what I do matters, and those that help me keep what I do in perspective. God's up to something...what is sown will be reaped. He's raising up an army to follow His lead in this journey we call life.
Stay focused readers! You may have had a day that had you in tears for a moment(yep...), but He saw them. He wasn't suprised you reacted the way you did, He knows your heart. He knows regardless of how much you want to run away from it, He knows you are listening and are right where He needs you for this season. Harvest time will come soon...but for now it's planting season. He's placed seeds within you...not for you to keep to yourself but to share! Seeds will never grow if they are left in the package. They have to be pour out, scattered, and nurtured.
Another thought, observation: Don't be surprised when the enemy attacks when you are tired, overwhelmed with a to-do list longer than the day, and trying to stay focused (aka not stress eating). The enemy knows when we are at our weakest. If the attacks came when we were at our strongest, we would move on and not feel them as much. He delights in watching it affect us, but oh how forgets the truth of God's word. God can take any attack and turn it for our good if we let Him. So words in His hands, tomorrow is a new day.......
Reality moment....It's a major paperwork season at work. Hence my to-do list is longer than my day, it has been for over a month. My God knows my heart. He knows I am me pure and simple. That yucky old people pleasing chain tries to re-attach itself, but my heart is simply to do what He has called me to do. Yes it still hurts when I feel like I am make someone mad, it's a process. Too many times we think we can make spiritual changes as easy as we think we can physical changes. We didn't put the physical weight on overnight and we aren't going to take it off the same way. The potter knows just how fast to spin the wheel. You may feel like you are going to fly off, but the Ultimate Potter has you right in His hands and all He sees is a masterpiece in the making!
Thankful tonight for those that pour back in, those that remind me what I do matters, and those that help me keep what I do in perspective. God's up to something...what is sown will be reaped. He's raising up an army to follow His lead in this journey we call life.
Stay focused readers! You may have had a day that had you in tears for a moment(yep...), but He saw them. He wasn't suprised you reacted the way you did, He knows your heart. He knows regardless of how much you want to run away from it, He knows you are listening and are right where He needs you for this season. Harvest time will come soon...but for now it's planting season. He's placed seeds within you...not for you to keep to yourself but to share! Seeds will never grow if they are left in the package. They have to be pour out, scattered, and nurtured.
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